Eliza Davis cultivates the next generation’s passion for chemistry
Few words conjure up a feeling of dread among students like “chemistry.” It’s famously challenging and a tricky topic to translate into classroom learning. Yet, it’s essential to our understanding of the world and innovation in all fields of science.
Luckily, there are troves of chemistry lovers who dedicate themselves to understanding the subject – with some going above and beyond to share their passion with others.
One of these incredible chemists is Eliza Davis, a second-year PharmD candidate at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy. Davis ups the energy in any chemistry-heavy Integrated Patient Care Lab (IPCaL) class, and recently, she opted for a nontraditional 2026 spring break, ditching the beach for an international chemistry olympiad competition.
Students from middle to high school compete in olympiads through chemistry exams and lab practicals. Davis competed in her first chemistry olympiad seven years ago and has since become a cornerstone of the community.
This is thanks to her initiative, Chemistry Olympiad Development Society (CODS), launched with peer competitors.
“My friends and I were huge chemistry enthusiasts when we were 14, and after getting involved with chemistry olympiad, we wanted to create a way to connect with other students who were excited about it,” Davis explained. “That’s how the CODS initiative started, and now it’s grown into this major platform to work with students interested in competitive chemistry.”
Today, that social group has flourished, becoming the unofficial community resource of the chemistry olympiad world.
“Chemistry is a gateway for so many things. It’s not always an approachable topic, but it’s given me a lot. That’s part of what makes it so rewarding to give other people access.”
Scientific olympiads like the chemistry olympiad are typically governed by local and national bodies, with competitors hoping to make it to the international championships. But with this governing structure comes plenty of accessibility issues for students around the world.
“A lot of chemistry enthusiasts who connected with our group faced major barriers when it came to getting resources and experience in chemistry, or their country just didn’t have a governing body to run competitions,” Davis said. “As high schoolers obsessed with chemistry, my friends and I thought that was so unfair, so our initiative began to serve as an accessibility tool for students around the world.”
To welcome all students, regardless of affiliation into the world of chemistry, Davis and her peers expanded the offerings of CODS. Primarily hosted on Discord channels, CODS grew from a safe space for students to bounce questions off one another to a hub of resources, collaboration, socialization and informal competition.
Alongside her fellow founders, Davis has facilitated the rapid expansion of CODS by teaching herself to code, edit online classes and instruct chemistry students as a tutor.
"Eliza seems to be the sort of leader who finds what she’s passionate about and the leadership follows,” said JD Bickel, PharmD, BCPS, assistant professor at the College of Pharmacy. “It’s easy to think of leadership as just being an officer in a student organization, but Eliza’s service reminds us that professional engagement isn’t ‘one-size-fits-all.’”
On the CODS forums, you’ll regularly see students seeking advice from competitors who have graduated and gone on to pursue degrees in STEM fields. Like Davis, many of those graduates continue to build learning resources for the community and connect current students with higher education resources.
“Chemistry is a gateway for so many things,” she said. “Plenty of my friends at the College of Pharmacy started off as chemistry majors, and other friends from CODS have found themselves in the field of medicine because of it. It’s not always an approachable topic, but it’s given me a lot. That’s part of what makes it so rewarding to give other people access.”
CODS remains a major door-opener for students around the world, offering all services free of charge and helping to build key STEM experience and career insight as students apply to college.
“Eliza has found the perfect outlet where her dedication and excitement can help develop talents of the next generation of chemistry students,” said Sean Nebergall, PharmD, RPh, assistant professor. “Alongside classes and a busy work schedule, she puts in all these volunteer hours purely for the joy of it.”
That effort from Davis and her peers has paid off. In April 2026, the initiative reached its 10,000-member milestone.
“To date, CODS competitions have included over 1,000 unique competitors and the latest, over spring break, was our 25th competition,” Davis said. “It’s been so cool to engage with people from every populated continent and watch them come together for this subject that they love.”
As Davis moves forward in her path as a student-pharmacist, she keeps her schedule packed with commitments to CODS, tutoring, clinical work and of course pharmacy coursework.
“Application of my chemistry knowledge is so satisfying in my pharmacy courses,” she said. “My background has helped me really connect with drug chemistry and pharmacology. It’s cool to represent pharmacy and STEM at Ohio State whenever I interact with CODS members.”